10 Heroic IDF Battles: No. 2 Operation Mole Cricket (1982)


25 Tammuz 5776

Monday, August 1 2016

 

UPDATES 9 am Israel time

…Palestinian terrorism not in the mainstream news yesterday…

Another day another 25+ terror attacks.

The most egregious of the day came at the Hawara checkpoint near Shechem where a terrorist rammed his car into a concrete barrier in an attempt to run over soldiers. When that failed, he got out of the car and charged them with a knife. He was shot and killed; no Israelis were wounded.

Numerous “rock” attacks took place throughout Judea and Samaria; some of the worst were at Silwan, on the Judea Highway, at Azzun, in Hevron, near Beit Ummar, at Hizmah, beside Karmi Tzur, in Halhul, and at Tarquimiya.

Around midnight, Border Guards stationed at the Tapuach Junction captured a terrorist from Hevron with an M-16 rifle.

…One of the more amazing videos you will see…

You probably have already seen this nauseating video which was shot several days ago.

By way of description:

In the company of a cohort of leftists and cameramen,  a Palestinian father with his 3 year old son walked up the road to where an Israeli jeep was parked. The father put a Palestinian flag in his son’s hand and told him to walk up to the soldiers.

The father then began screaming at the soldiers “Shoot him!” “Kill him!” Instead the lead soldier, puts away his gun and gives a high five to the boy. 

Then the father screams at the child to pick up rocks and throw them at the soldiers, but the child doesn’t understand what the father wants. Eventually, he picks up a few rocks and throws them to the side of the road.

Watch it here.

It never ceases to amaze your humble servant how Palestinian parents so much want their children to die. In this case to make a video. In other cases to martyr themselves–not for the kids’ sake, but for the parents so they will be honored in Palestinian society and paid by the PLO. 

Absolutely sickening.

TODAY’S BLOG:

Earlier this month, your humble servant read a piece in the Jerusalem Post which stated that the Israeli raid on Entebbe was “most probably Israel’s last heroic hurrah” and as such has a special place in the Israeli and international mind.
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On the one hand, there is no doubt about the special nature of Entebbe, but to suggest that this was the last heroic hurrah is to demean the valiant soldiers of the IDF who have fought innumerable heroic battles since then.

This week we are devoting the blog to a description of 10 military actions that took place after 1980 which displayed the heroism of Israeli soldiers.

Number 2: Operation Mole Cricket 19 (South Lebanon)

The First Lebanese War

Tuesday, June 9, 1982

One day after the Battle of Jezzine (see yesterday’s blog) which secured the southern entrance to the Bekaa Valley, the Israeli Air Force carried out Operation Mole Cricket to take out 19 Surface to Air (SAM) Syrian missile defenses that had been deployed in the Valley. Defending the SAMs were more than 100 MiG-21, MiG-23, and MiG-23M fighter aircraft.

The Israeli command was divided into two parts: IAF Commander Gen. David Ivry commanded the fighter jets that were to be involved in the attack, and Col. Aviem Sella led the force that would attack the SAMs.

On June 9th, Ivry ordered 96 Israeli F-16s and F-15s, F-14s, and Kfirs to begin the attack. The planes were equipped with AIM-7F Sparrow radar-guided missiles, AIM-9L Sidewinder infrared-guided missiles, and computer-aimed 20-mm cannons. The purpose of most of these planes was to provide air cover while F-4 Phantoms attacked the SAM batteries with AGM-45 and AGM-45 missiles.

One of the largest dogfights in the history of aerial warfare ensued–the largest since the Korean War.

Two hours later, the main fighting was over.

At that time, General Ivry reported to the Israel cabinet that his airmen had shot down 29 MiGs and destroyed 15 out of 19 SAM batteries.

However, these numbers only included what happened in the Bekaa Valley. The operation continued for three more days. Other SAM batteries to the east were also hit as were MiGs flying in their defense.

All told 97 MiGs were shot down, and 30 SAM batteries were wiped out (including the remaining 4 in the Bekaa Valley).

There were no Israeli losses except for one drone aircraft.

Israeli air crews performed heroically in Operation Mole Cricket, and may have even had a profound impact on world politics. Some years later, General Ivry was told by a Czech general that the Operation had convinced the Russians that Western technology was superior and that this recognition was the beginning of glasnost.

 

 

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